History of the Basin Reserve - Cricket Wellington History of the Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve Cricket at the Basin Reserve 1976 New Zealand v India, 1981. The first Test Match after redevelopment Wellington Firebirds v Otago Volts, February 2009 The Basin Reserve hosted its first test match on 24 January 1930 and as at 30 March 2013 had hosted 54 test matches. It has been the venue for four Boxing Day Tests. The oldest first-class ground in the country, it staged its 400th first class game in the 2009-10 season, and its significance has been acknowledged by it being the only sporting ground in New Zealand registered by the Historic Places Trust (as of 1 April 2010). It remains a beautiful international cricket ground with a distinctive name known throughout the cricketing world. When the first settlers arrived in Wellington in 1840 there was a shallow lagoon that was linked to the harbour by a stream in what is known today as Kent & Cambridge Terrace.

The plans of the colonists to turn the Basin into an inland anchorage for the city were upset when the 1855 earthquake raised the Te Aro flat by two metres and the lagoon became a swamp. One of the major problems with the disposing of the town allotments of Wellington was that no attention was paid to the selection of reserves for public purposes. In 1857 a group of prominent citizens petitioned the Wellington Provincial Council to set aside the site of the canal and basin at Te Aro as a public park and cricket ground. The petition was granted and the first steps were taken to drain the 9 acres and 3 roods in what is now called the Basin Reserve. Prison labour from Te Aro gaol was used for many years to implement the drainage that was paid for by the subscriptions from the cricketers of Wellington, supplemented by an equal amount from the Provincial Government. In December 1866 a meeting was held at Osgood’s Hotel for those people interested in forming a cricket ground in Wellington.

A committee of six, plus three trustees, met a sub-committee of the Board of Works, and the Basin Reserve was leased for three years as a cricket ground at an annual rental of €25. Thus, on 11 December 1866, the Basin Reserve formally became Wellington’s home of cricket. It was another 13 months before the first game was played at the Basin Reserve. On 11 January 1868 the officers and men of HMS Falcon played the Wellington Volunteers. At the instigation of the Caledonian Society, a grandstand was built in 1868 which also housed the ground custodian. Under the direction of a prominent cricketer, John Marchant, who was also the Surveyor-General for New Zealand, the cricketers raised and spent in excess of €200 in the years 1871 and 1872 on improving the ground. On the 30 November 1873 the Basin Reserve played host to the touring Auckland side in Wellington’s first first-class game.

The first general meeting of the Wellington Cricket Association was held at the Pier Hotel on 22 October 1875, and thus the first cricket association was formed in New Zealand. The first international cricket match played at the Basin Reserve was against Lillywhite’s All England XI on 5 February 1877. A Deed of Conveyance of the Basin Reserve between the Crown and the Governor-General of New Zealand to the Wellington City Council was approved in 1884 that established that the ground was to be “forever used for the purposes of a cricket and a recreation ground by the inhabitants of Wellington.” As the game developed the resources of the Wellington Cricket Association expanded. A new grandstand was opened on New Year’s Day 1925 at a cost of €16,710. Today this houses the New Zealand Cricket Museum. In 1979-80 the present configuration of an oval shape, the R.A Vance Stand, the eastern bank and the current seating were undertaken. In 2003 the Wellington City Council undertook to restore the William Wakefield Memorial and after public consultation resolved to return as near as possible to its original location inside the ground.

Restoration work began on the memorial in May 2006. It was finally relocated in September 2006 and its restoration officially celebrated on 7 October 2006. A new electronic replay scoreboard, named after New Zealand cricket historian Don Neely, was installed at the end of 2007 and was officially opened on 11 January 2008. The ground continues to play host to First Class and Test Match cricket. It is the home of the Wellington Firebirds and continues as the players’ favourite ground in New Zealand. Recent News Basin Reserve, Wellington Match Schedule and upcoming match details Home » Venue Fixtures » Wellington Fixtures Wellington - New Zealand List of upcoming cricket matches to be played at Wellington's cricket stadium. Wellington is one of the important venues situated in New Zealand and has hosted several matches till now. Check the below list of matches which will be played or schedule to played at Wellington. Schedule and Fixtures at Wellington - New Zealand. Basin Reserve, Wellington is an important cricket venue of New Zealand for International matches. Below is a full list of upcoming matches at Wellington, New Zealand in tabular form. Full schedule and fixtures of Wellington venue.

Click on concerned series to check the fixture of that particular series to get the full details of the tournament, tri-series or bilateral series. All matches of Wellington are listed along with local time, gmt time, date, venue and series details. The Basin Reserve is a well-known cricket stadium located in the capital city of New Zealand, Wellington. Built in 1868, the Basin Reserve is used as a venue for both first-class & international cricket matches. Many test & ODIs have been held in this stadium since the day it was built. With a capacity of 11,000, the Basin Reserve has played host to 52 test matches as of February, 2011. The pitch is here is known to suit fast bowlers better & that is quite evident from the record of this stadium. Nine out of top ten wicket takers in this stadium are pacers. Kiwi legend Martin Crowe has the highest run getter in this stadium with a score of 1,123 & an average of 70.19. The stadium will also host a few matches of the 2015 World Cup which New Zealand will co-host with Australia. Sr. No.

cricket | Save The Basin Reserve Save The Basin Reserve ≈ Leave a comment Wellington City Council’s Basin Reserve Masterplan Wellington City Council is finally developing a Basin Reserve Masterplan. That’s good: the lack of such a plan was adversely noted at the Board of Inquiry hearing. But it could also be bad: the Council may use it as a pretext to demolish the Museum Stand, which houses the New Zealand Cricket Museum, and to make other changes which may adversely affect the Basin. So we need to be vigilant, and we need to have our say. It’s not yet possible to submit directly on the Masterplan itself, but the seeds of it are sown in the Council’s 10-year Long Term Plan at – itself a very important document to submit on, as other planning documents are derived from it: The general supporting documents for the LTP are below: P. 37 mentions the Basin Reserve Masterplan. Cost is at $21m. Note that the actual master plan will be brought back to Council later in the year. The actual detail is not in the Plan which will make it a bit difficult to feed back on but think it important that high level feedback is given through this process.

The supporting document that discusses the Basin Reserve makes it clear that the future of the Museum Stand is still under threat – there’s a risk it may be demolished, and with it the Cricket Museum which it houses. So you might want to submit on these points: No flyover or similar transport project should be allowed to threaten the future of the Basin! Preservation of the Museum Stand and the New Zealand Cricket Museum Emphasis the importance of the Basin to Wellington, not just as a cricket ground but a recreation facility. Submissions on the Long Term Plan close on Friday 17 April and can be made at Greater Wellington’s Climate Change Strategy Greater Wellington (aka Wellington Regional Council), while busily supporting more motorways and longer airport runways , is at the same time developing its climate change strategy, which is meant to cover both actions the region should take to reduce its contribution to climate change, and actions needed to adapt to the effects of climate change, such as sea level rise, storm surges, coastal erosion, flooding, and increased extreme weather events.

You have until Friday 10 April to have your say on the draft plan, which might be a good opportunity to point out any contradictions you see between the Council’s words and its actions, as well as recommending actions you think the region needs to take: ≈ Leave a comment Basin Reserve rainbow. Photo: Patrick Morgan. It was a typical Wellington day yesterday at the Basin Reserve. The sun shone, the wind blew, the rain fell – and then, just as the day’s proceedings at the Basin Reserve flyover Board of Inquiry finished, this beautiful rainbow crowned the day. But the outlook for Test cricket at the Basin Reserve would be a lot less attractive if plans to build a motorway flyover along the northern and north-western boundary of the ground go ahead. At the hearing yesterday, such distinguished formers cricketers and cricket administrators as Martin Snedden and Sir John Anderson warned of the risks the proposed flyover would pose to the future of cricket at the Basin.

Martin Snedden called flyovers “hideous”, and was concerned to learn that, according to the Transport Agency’s own expert witnesses, moving traffic on the flyover would still be visible from the playing surface and to spectators even if the Transport Agency’s proposed screening options are put in place. Spectators might vote with their feet. The International Cricket Council might withdraw the Basin’s accreditation as Test match venue. The only sure way to prevent a flyover putting the Basin’s future at risk is for the flyover not to be built. Here is domestic and international media coverage of the day’s cricket evidence: ESPN Cricinfo: Traffic flyover threatens Basin Reserve: Stuff: Flyover could spell death of test cricket: Newstalk ZB: Fears Basin Reserve flyover could kill cricket there: ≈ Leave a comment With the three-month extension to the Basin Reserve flyover hearing, the hearing has had to find a new venue – and it has settled on the Norwood Room in the RA Vance Stand at the Basin Reserve, where the hearing will be held from today (Monday 31 March) onwards.

It seems appropriate that a hearing on a project that could, according to cricket witnesses called by the Basin Reserve Trust, place the future of Basin Reserve as a Test cricket ground in jeopard y, is heading to ‘the scene of the crime’. There remains a lot to be said at the Hearing about the urban design, heritage, landscape and cricket-related flaws of NZTA’s flyover plans. It will be easier to make those flaws vivid when the setting that would be affected is right outside the window. A recent Dominion Post article highlights the threat to the Basin Reserve as a cricket ground from the proposed flyover: ≈ Leave a comment The Save the Basin Campaign is calling on Wellingtonians to show their love for the Basin Reserve this Valentine’s Day, Friday 14th February, which is also with the first day of the second test match between New Zealand and India. Attendees at the “Love the Basin” event, to be held at the northern entrance to the Basin, will be invited to write a note stating why they love this iconic part of our city.

Save the Basin Campaign spokesperson Tim Jones says: “This is an opportunity for the community to share the many reasons we love the Basin Reserve and why we continue to oppose construction of the proposed flyover on the ground’s northern boundary.” Tim Jones says that supporters of Save the Basin Campaign have rallied behind the cause for many reasons. These range from the heritage values of the precinct and the fact that it is a world class test-playing venue, through to the unnecessary and ugly nature of the proposed flyover. “There are also many Wellingtonians who enjoy and use the Basin as an open green space with views to the surrounding Town Belt.” The Save the Basin Campaign is one of a number of community groups and numerous individual citizens who are currently involved in the Board of Inquiry process to review the NZTA’s application for resource consent to build a flyover at the northern end of the Basin Reserve. A final decision is due out later in the year. The “Love the Basin” event will start at 10am and is being held at the northern end of the Basin Reserve, near the C.S. Dempster Gate. A speech and opportunity for photographs will be held at approximately 10.20am.

The event will go ahead regardless of the weather and those that are unable to attend are asked to send a message stating why they love the Basin Reserve to stoptheflyover@gmail.com . ≈ Leave a comment Save the Basin invites you to come show your love for the Basin Reserve on Valentines Day, Friday 14 February. Meet at the northern end of the Basin Reserve, near the CS Dempster Gate, at 10am to show your support for the iconic Basin Reserve precinct, and why it’s just too precious to spoil with the construction of the proposed flyover. Bring your banners, signs and anti-flyover T-shirts, but most of all your love for this nationally significant part of our city. Friday 14 February is also the first day of the New Zealand-India cricket Test at the Basin, so plenty of people will witness your declaration of love for the Basin! In case you’re new to the issue, here’s a quick introduction to what’s being proposed for the Basin Reserve, why the Save the Basin Campaign is opposed to it, and what you can do to help. What’s the Basin Reserve? The Basin Reserve is a recreation ground near the centre of Wellington.

It is best known for being Wellington’s Test cricket ground, and has often been praised for its setting and its beauty. What’s proposed for the Basin Reserve? The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), as part of the current New Zealand Government’s focus on building more motorways rather than funding public transport, walking and cycling, is planning to build a 10-metre-high one-way motorway flyover on the north-western boundary of the Basin Reserve at an estimated cost of at least $100 million. If built, it will be clearly visible from many parts of the ground. Hang on a minute, did you say “one-way”? It’s bizarre, but true. All this effort, expense and disruption is for the sake of a one-way road, running east to west. In fact, one of the many concerns about this proposed flyover is that it, if built, it may need to be followed by a second unsightly flyover running in the opposite direction . What effect would a flyover have on cricket at the Basin? Nobody is quite sure, but a number of senior international cricketers and cricket officials have expressed serious concerns at the potential effects on players, and also on the Basin’s future as an international cricket ground .

We’re told that ‘mitigation measures’, mainly in the form of a new structure designed to block the view of the flyover from the pitch, have been agreed, though details have yet to be released of this agreement, but these measures don’t appear to shield the flyover from many fielders or spectators. Why does NZTA want to build a flyover? The NZTA is trying to convert the present route through Wellington to Wellington Airport into a motorway designed to carry increasing numbers of cars, even though traffic volumes are dropping. It wants to build a flyover as part of this route, and has been determined to do so for many years, despite a great deal of evidence (that will be presented at the forthcoming Basin flyover hearings) showing that a flyover is not necessary. NZTA has deliberately skewed figures to make other transport solutions appear not to be viable . Was there any consultation before NZTA went ahead with its plans? If you can call it consultation: NZTA gave Wellingtonians the option of agreeing to a flyover, or a slightly different flyover . NZTA ignored the many submissions calling for there not to be a flyover and then announced one of the flyovers as the preferred option.

This is, sadly, typical of NZTA’s approach to engaging with the public. What happens next? The Government has set up a Board of Inquiry to hear the resource consent application to build what NZTA persists in calling a Basin “Bridge” – presumably because it realises the public doesn’t like flyovers. The Board of Inquiry hearing is scheduled to begin on Monday 3 February and is expected to report by the end of May. Save the Basin Campaign and an number of other organisations are presenting detailed cases covering why a flyover is unnecessary and shouldn’t be approved. We hope that this Board of Inquiry will fully and carefully consider the question of whether the flyover should go ahead. However, the Government set up the Board of Inquiry process to fast-track projects it wants to see go ahead, and so far, that’s what Boards of Inquiry have done. If the Board rules that the project should not go ahead, it will have made the right decision. And if it rules otherwise, we still have other legal avenues open to us. You keep saying the Government is behind this project. Do all political parties support it? Absolutely not!

In fact, five parties have stated their opposition to a Basin Reserve flyover: Labour, the Greens, New Zealand First, the Mana Movement and United Future. It’s entirely possible that the Government that emerges following the 2014 General Election may be opposed to a Basin Reserve flyover going ahead. How can I help? We’ve listed a number of ways , but the two most important things you can do are: ≈ Leave a comment I spent a very interesting couple of hours at the weekend reading the evidence of the cricket witnesses called by the Basin Reserve Trust for the forthcoming Board of Inquiry on the proposed Basin Reserve flyover.* You can find these statements online at # I expected this evidence to be full of reassurances about how the NZTA had cricket’s best interests at heart, but that is strikingly not the case. Here are some of the statements made by these cricket experts in their evidence: Sir John Anderson, former Chair of NZ Cricket: “I consider that a failure to adequately mitigate the effects of the Proposal on the Basin Reserve could potentially affect the test match status of the ground.” Peter Clinton, CEO of Cricket Wellington: “The proposed Basin Bridge will have a significant impact on the Basin Reserve.

The Basin Bridge will impact the Basin Reserve in the following ways: (a) Visual distraction for sportspersons; (b) Loss of spectator enjoyment; (c) Potential loss of ICC accreditation as an international cricket ground; and (d) Impact on the Basin Reserve’s unique character and ambience.” Martin Snedden, former New Zealand cricketer, sports administrator: “The Application [by NZTA] and the Evidence in Chief used inappropriately narrow criteria to determine how the view of traffic on the Basin Bridge might adversely impact the Basin Reserve.” With the future of the Basin at stake, such statements should concern all cricket players, administrators and fans. It’s also clear that the proposed Northern Gateway Building is far from a panacea for these problems, and that there are issues with its design and use – something that also became very clear when, at a meeting between submitters and the NZTA, Greg Lee of the NZTA was asked to explain and justify the design and cost of the Northern Gateway Building, and was unable to do either convincingly. * Some witness statements may not be provided until later this week.

ODI cricket returns to Basin Reserve | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo New Zealand news August 27, 2015 ODI cricket returns to Basin Reserve ESPNcricinfo staff The Basin Reserve will host what is set to be Brendon McCullum's 100th Test © Getty Images New Zealand's home summer 2015-16 NZ v Sri Lanka 1st Test, Dec 10-14, Dunedin 2nd Test, Dec 18-22, Hamilton 1st ODI, Dec 26, Christchurch 2nd ODI, Dec 28, Christchurch 3rd ODI, Dec 31, Nelson 4th ODI, Jan 2, Nelson 5th ODI, Jan 5, Mt Maunganui 1st T20, Jan 7, Mt Maunganui 2nd T20, Jan 10, Auckland NZ v Pakistan 1st T20, Jan 15, Auckland 2nd T20, Jan 17, Hamilton 3rd T20, Jan 22, Westpac Stadium 1st ODI, Jan 25,

 Basin Reserve 2nd ODI, Jan 28, Napier 3rd ODI, Jan 31, Auckland NZ v Australia 1st ODI Feb 3, Auckland 2nd ODI, Feb 6, Westpac Stadium 3rd ODI, Feb 8, Hamilton 1st Test, Feb 12-16, Basin Reserve 2nd Test, Feb 20-24, Christchurch For the first time in almost 11 years, Wellington's Basin Reserve will host an ODI, when New Zealand take on Pakistan in January 2016.

The venue will later host what is scheduled to be Brendon McCullum's 100th Test match, when Australia visit for a tour that includes the first properly contested Chappell-Hadlee one-day cup since 2010. New Zealand will also host Sri Lanka in the 2015-16 season. Sri Lanka arrive first, and will play two Tests - in Dunedin and Hamilton - five ODIs and two Twenty20s between December 10 and January 10. The Pakistan internationals kick off on January 15, at Eden Park, with the first of three T20s, followed by three ODIs. Australia round off the home season with three ODIs and two Tests at the Basin Reserve and Christchurch's Hagley Oval. The Australia ODIs played for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy is the first instance of the trophy being contested over multiple games as opposed to a one-off game - twice, in 2011 and 2015 , just clubbed with the Australia v New Zealand group game in the World Cup - in five seasons, but it will be the start of a string of such series.

Including this one, eight Chappell-Hadlee contests are scheduled on either side of the Tasman over the next seven years. New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White said the matches have been spread out across the country as much as possible to allow home fans to watch their team live, to follow up on the World Cup highs. "I'd like to congratulate Wellington authorities for taking a regional approach to this process and, specifically, [Wellington's other international venue] Westpac Stadium for supporting the return of ODI cricket to the Basin Reserve," White said. Christchurch will host the Boxing Day ODI against Sri Lanka, while Nelson gets ODIs on either side of New Year's. Wellington's Westpac Stadium gets a T20 against Pakistan and an ODI against Australia. © ESPN Sports Media Ltd. Basin Reserve | South-African Cricket Stadiums, Venues Capacity : 11,000 Notable Events About Basin Reserve Stadium The Basin Reserve hosted its first test match on 24 January 1930 and as at 1 April 2010 had hosted 51 test matches. It remains a beautiful international cricket ground with a distinctive name known throughout the cricketing world.

Description The Basin Reserve(commonly known as "The Basin"),is a cricket ground in Wellington,New Zealand,used for Test, first-class and one-day cricket. The oldest first-class ground in the country, it staged its 400th first class game in the 2009/10 season, and its significance has been acknowledged by it being the only sporting ground in New Zealand registered by the Historic Places Trust Christ's College and Canterbury Cricket look to develop ground | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo Christ's College and Canterbury Cricket look to develop ground Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Christchurch may be set to have its own version of the Basin Reserve, although without the traffic running around it, but a central city venue for domestic and international cricket. The Christ's College Oval at Hagley Park, behind the Riccarton Cricket Club pavilion, is set to become Canterbury's future home of cricket if plans announced by Canterbury Cricket and Christ's College come to fruition. The plan needs Christchurch City Council approval before it can be undertaken. The school and Canterbury Cricket approached council officers who advised them that they best way to move was as part of the review of the Hagley Park Management Plan which is due to be held soon.

The ground would be available for cricket for both parties with movable seating being incorporated for major games. The school and Canterbury Cricket have entered into an agreement concerning development of the area. The move, which has been coming since Canterbury realised they needed to find an alternative venue to the increasingly rugby-dominated Jade Stadium, was announced at the launch of the Canterbury season tonight. Another potential clash of dates has already occurred in relation to a one-day international between New Zealand and South Africa and a Super 12 match next year. Canterbury Cricket chief executive Richard Reid said the idea was the result of the 125th jubilee match played between Canterbury and England at Hagley Oval in 2002. The public reaction to having the match there had been favourable and the event won the event of the year in the Canterbury Sports Awards. The venue has appeal also as a prospective Test match venue, if not for the drawcard teams like England and South Africa, then certainly for lesser teams on the international circuit. With Tests this year being played at cricket specific venues, apart from Auckland, it was clear that if Canterbury wanted to hold Tests in future, having a cricket specific venue would go some way toward achieving that.

However, in recent times Canterbury crowds have not been turning out to Test matches at Jade Stadium and last year when Nathan Astle hit his world-record double century, the majority of the crowd was made up of Barmy Army fans. International allrounder Chris Cairns is to captain Canterbury this summer. He takes the place of Gary Stead whose dropping from the role was signalled earlier in the year. How often Cairns might play will be dependent on his international commitments. He led the Nottinghamshire side during its one-day programme in English county cricket this year. © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

2nd Test: New Zealand v Bangladesh at Christchurch Jan 20-24, 2017 (11:00 local | 22:00 GMT -1d | 17:00 EST -1d | 16:00 CST -1d | 14:00 PST -1d) Northern D v Central D at Hamilton Jan 22, 2017 (11:00 local | 22:00 GMT -1d | 17:00 EST -1d | 16:00 CST -1d | 14:00 PST -1d) Otago v Canterbury at Dunedin Jan 22, 2017 (11:00 local | 22:00 GMT -1d | 17:00 EST -1d | 16:00 CST -1d | 14:00 PST -1d) Wellington v Auckland at Wellington Jan 22, 2017 (11:00 local | 22:00 GMT -1d | 17:00 EST

 -1d | 16:00 CST -1d | 14:00 PST -1d) Auckland v Central D at Auckland Jan 25, 2017 (11:00 local | 22:00 GMT -1d | 17:00 EST -1d | 16:00 CST -1d | 14:00 PST -1d) International | Venues | Basin Reserve, Wellington - SuperSport - Cricket Basin Reserve, Wellington Ends: Vance Stand End, Scoreboard End Home team: Wellington - Win by home side: 14 - Win by visitors: 18 - Win by neutral team: 0 - Win batting 1st: 10 - Win by home side: 9 - Win by visitors: 11 - Win by neutral team: 3 - Win batting 1st: 12 Highest individual score: 299 (Martin Crowe) Highest individual score: 126* (Shoaib Mohammad) Best bowling (inns): 7/23 (Richard Hadlee) Best bowling: 5/17 (Terry Alderman) Best bowling (match

): 13/55 (Courtney Walsh) Average S/R: 31.42 267 - PA de Silva (SL) 255* - DJ McGlew (SA) 1st - 276 - CS Dempster/JE Mills (NZ) 2nd - 241 - JG Wright/AH Jones (NZ) 3rd - 467 - AH Jones/MD Crowe (NZ) 4th - 229 - BE Congdon/BF hastings (NZ) 5th - 258 - Salim Malik/Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak) 6th - 256 - DR Martyn/AC Gilchrist (Aus) 7th - 246 - DJ McGlew/ARA Murray (SA) 8th - 137 - DL Vettori/DJ Nash (NZ) 9th - 163* - MC Cowdrey/AC Smith (Eng) 10th - 48 - IDS Smith/EJ Chatfield (NZ) 1st - 152 - GM Turner/BA Edgar (NZ) 2nd

 - 142 - Aamir Sohail/Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak) 3rd - 152 - Shoaib Mohammad/Ramiz Raja (Pak) 4th - 80 - MJ Greatbatch/KR Rutherford (NZ) 5th - 108* - MD Crowe/IDS Smith (NZ) 6th - 86 - WB Phillips/SR Waugh (Aus) 7th - 56 - G Miller/VJ Marks (Eng) 8th - 43 - SB Doull/GR Larsen (NZ) 9th - 31 - JV Coney/GK Robertson (NZ) 10th - 33 - LK Germon/DK Morrison (NZ) The Basin Reserve (commonly known as "The Basin"), is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand, used for Test, first-class and one-day cricket.

Some argue that its proximity to the city, its Historic Place status and its age make it the most famous cricket ground in New Zealand. The Basin Reserve is the only cricket ground in New Zealand to have Historic Place status (Category II). The ground has been used for events other than cricket, such as concerts, sports events and other social gatherings, but now it is mostly used for cricket, particularly Test matches. Off-field facilities built into the stadium also included the New Zealand Institute of Sport, and a campus for the Wellington School of Cricket, run by the Wellington Cricket Association. Location The Basin Reserve is 2 kilometres south of the Wellington CBD at the foot of Mount Victoria. Government House and the boys' school Wellington College are to the south of the Basin, across the street. At the eastern end of the basin is the Mount Victoria Tunnel, which increased the traffic flow around the Basin Reserve when it was built in 1931. One of the incidental quirks of the Basin is that, as traffic about it flows one way, it is reputedly the largest traffic island in the southern hemisphere. The New Zealand Cricket Museum is located in the Old Grandstand. It houses cricket memorabilia and a reference library.

The Basin Reserve is also surrounded by numerous other Wellington landmarks, including Mount Cook Barracks, the National War Memorial, several colleges and high schools, the Caledonian Hotel and the former Dominion Museum. The Basin Reserve is the intersection point for the Wellington suburbs of Mount Cook, Newtown and Mount Victoria. Construction history The area that is now Basin Reserve was originally a lake (known as the Basin Lake), and there were plans to connect it to the sea by a canal to make it an alternative inner city harbour, with major warehouses and factories alongside it. However, the massive 1855 Wairarapa earthquake uplifted the area nearly 1.8 m and turned the lake into a swamp. Due to the colonists' English roots, sport, particularly cricket, was a vital part of the community's way to relax. However, no land had been allocated by the city planners for recreational reserves. Although natural grounds, such as the Te Aro flat, provided a small area for matches, the colonists wanted more recreational land than what they had. The matter became more dire as buildings began to be erected on these flat plains, as flat land was hard to find in the mountainous Wellington.

So after the 1855 earthquake, which historians estimate measured 8 on the Richter scale, influential citizens seized the chance in 1857 to suggest that the new land be drained and made into a recreational reserve. The Wellington council accepted the proposal and beginning on February 3, 1863 prisoners from the Mount Cook Gaol began to level and drain the new land. The swamp was drained by September and a fence was placed around the entire area along with hedges. However, massive population influxes from 1863 until 1866 (caused mostly by the Parliament being situated in Wellington) hampered construction on the Basin Reserve as workers were pulled to other areas. After a council meeting on 11 December 1866 the Basin Reserve became Wellington's official cricket ground. No cattle or horses were allowed in the ground and only small hedges and shrubs were allowed to be planted so as not to hamper cricket games. Soon after, on 11 January 1868, the first game of cricket was played, although the ground had numerous stones and thistles on it, which the umpire later apologised for as some players got injured from them.

Although it was the opening day, no ceremony or music was played, nor was the opening advertised with banners. Soon after that first event, the Highland Games began being held at the Basin Reserve. The games were organised by the Wellingtonian Caledonian Society, of which their headquarters, The Caledonian Hotel, still stands towards the south of the Basin Reserve. The society offered up prize money which brought many competitors to the region. Due to their success, the society petitioned to have new grandstands built at the western end of the Basin Reserve. They would measure 44 ft by 20 ft and would cost approximately £250–£300. The stands would also hold food stalls and ground keepers. However, for the following years, even up until reportedly 1872, the Basin Reserve grounds were still extremely swampy, with small pools of swamp water and various weeds and shrubs sprouting over the fields. In late 1872, horses were used to level the playing field and this greatly improved the conditions. The pavilion has been a Category II registered Historic Place since 1982, and the entire Basin Reserve has been a registered Historic Area since 1998.

Event history The first ever event played on the Basin Reserve was a game of one-day cricket on 11 January 1868 between the Mount Cook Gaol prisoners and their officers and the crew of the HMS Falcon, which was docked in Wellington. However, the game was hampered with injuries from numerous stones and thistles in the grass, which led to the injury of some players. The umpire apologised after the game to the players for the poor conditions of play. After that first event, local societies began organising athletic and sport meetings at the Basin Reserve. These meetings were eventually called the Highland Games and it was their success which led to the construction of the ground's grand stand. The events included athletics, racing, dancing and later wood-chopping and cycling. However, the ground was still swampy in some areas, but was remedied in late 1872. This allowed the first first-class game, Wellington against Auckland, to be played on 30 November 1873, which Wellington won easily. Another first at the Basin Reserve is reputedly what was the first game of rugby in the North Island.

The first rugby game held at the Basin Reserve was between the Wellington football team and the crew of HMS Rosario, which the sailors won by a single goal. Before sailing on the 1921-22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain, the Australian rugby league team stopped in Wellington for an exhibition match at the Basin Reserve. The first Test match played at the ground was between New Zealand and England, beginning on 24 January 1930. One-day international cricket was played at the Basin Reserve until 1999, after which it moved to the larger crowd capacity Westpac Stadium on the other side of Wellington. In what may be a one-off occasion, it returned during the Australian Tour in 2005 following a decision that the pitch at Hamilton's Westpac Park was unfit for cricket. On 13 March 2011, the Basin Reserve was host to "Fill the Basin" a cricket event intended to raise money for the 2011 Canterbury Earthquake. The game was played in front of more than 10,000 people with people sitting between the boundary rope and the fence. This is the biggest crowd at the Basin Reserve in the modern era.

Players inolved in the match included Shane Warne, Stephen Fleming, Tana Umaga, Richard Hadlee, Martin Crowe, other famous former New Zealand cricketers, current All Blacks Richie McCaw and Conrad Smith and actors Russell Crowe, Ian McKellen. More than $500,000 was raised towards the relief efforts. In addition to cricket, other sports have also used the Basin Reserve, including rugby union, a rugby league Test match, a football pre-season match and exhibition Australian rules football matches. The Basin Reserve was during the 1950s and 1960s the major football ground in the Wellington area and was the scene of a number of international matches and Chatham Cup finals. As at February 16, 2012 Event Streaming

Question: In which city is the 'Basin Reserve' Cricket Test Match venue?
Answer: WELLINGTON, New Zealand